Class Room notes and materials

Menu

Where did the People vanished ????

There are thousands of mysteries revolving in the infinite atlas of history , but two of ma most favorites are :
i> Croatoan – the lost colony
ii>Mary Celeste – A Cursed Ship with a Disappearing Crew
One link that connects both the mysteries is :” DISAPPEARING MASS” , the question arises how come so many people disappears in the thin air , even without leaving behind a single clue of their existence , why even after years of research & theories not a single valid reason is found about their disappearances. before moving further lets have a quick glance at this mysteries :

Fans of the CW show Supernatural are familiar with the word “croatoan,” but for others, the word is unfamiliar, a throwback to history 101 and largely forgotten. Most people do not remember that the word, carved into a tree at Roanoke Island, North Carolina, is the single most important clue to an English settlement which mysteriously disappeared in 1590.

In the Supernatural episodes, “croatoan” was a virus, but in reality, no one really knows what the word means, although various historical scholars have their theories. Here is what we do know. About 117 English pioneers came to Roanoke Island to form a settlement. Three years later, the settlers were gone without a trace, leaving only the word “croatoan” carved into a tree. The story goes like this………

In 1585, English explorer Ralph Lane landed on the Outer Banks with a crew of 75 men, writing upon his arrival that they had come upon the “goodliest soyle under the cope of heaven.”

The enchantment didn’t last. The “First Colony” fought with natives, and food supplies quickly dwindled. They sent a party back to England seeking fresh supplies, but didn’t wait for their return. Instead, they hitched a ride back home with Sir Francis Drake, who was passing through after raiding Spanish ports in the Caribbean.

When the men with relief supplies arrived to find the colony abandoned, they left a detachment of about 15 and sailed themselves for England.

Undeterred by the chaos, Sir Walter Raleigh sent John White and a new group of settlers one year later to pick up the so-called “holding colony” and to found a new settlement in what is now Virginia. White was unable to find the men left behind, and Indians reported that other natives had attacked the group and forced them to flee by boat.

Concerned about their own future and plagued by a lack of food, the colonists persuaded White to return to England for help. He agreed, leaving behind 116 colonists and his newborn granddaughter Virginia Dare – the first English child born in the New World. The colonists promised White they would carve a Maltese cross into a tree if they encountered turmoil and were forced to flee.

White made it back to England, but was delayed for three years by war between Spain and England. When he returned in 1590, he found no trace of the colonists he left behind, aside from the post and the word “Croatoan.”

> Speculation abounds as to what happened to the settlers. One theory is that the group splintered into two factions, one faction was killed by hostile Indians, while another was assimilated into one of the friendly Indian tribes. No one really knows……….

*Moving onto our next mystery ,One of the most famous ghost ships of all time is the Mary Celeste. This ship always seemed to have experienced bad luck, no matter where she went or who her passengers were.

-> Mary Celeste”the cursed ship”

Even when the ship was known as the Amazon, after she was launched in 1860, she was involved in many accidents and went through a dozen different owners. No owner kept the ship for very long, since they always experienced bad luck with her. Around 1870, after the first ten years of misfortune, the ship was sent to New York, underwent extensive repairs, and was finally renamed Mary Celeste.

The captain of newly renamed Mary Celeste was Benjamin Briggs, who, along with his wife, daughter, and seven or eight crew members, departed New York on Nov. 7, 1872. They were bound for Genoa, Italy, and had a cargo of 1,700 barrels of alcohol. All seemed well upon departure, but the captain, crew, and passengers were never seen or heard from again. They literally disappeared off the face of the earth, and to this day, the mystery has never been completely solved.

Even though all persons aboard the ship disappeared, the ship itself did not. Nor did the cargo. However, just nine of the barrels were found opened once the shipment was finally inspected. On December 5, 1872, nearly a month after the Mary Celeste departed from New York, she was found on the sea, derelict, by the Dei Gratia ship.

The captain of the Dei Gratia was familiar with Captain Briggs and was surprised to find that he was missing. Briggs had a reputation of being a fair, honest man and an excellent captain. The Dei Gratia crew boarded the Mary Celeste to investigate. What they found was a mystery that no one ever found out the answers to. The ship wasn’t in the best condition, but it was still fine and seaworthy. It appeared as if the crew and passengers had left in a hurry.

The Galley wasn’t in the best shape, there was some water in between the decks, and the kitchen was a mess. There was also a rope hanging over the side and trailing in the water. It appeared that, despite that the Mary Celeste was still in decent condition, the crew had abandoned ship. But why? Why did they leave in such a hurry? How come they were never found again? Did their life boat sink? If they did make it to safety, why did they never contact anyone? Did they meet with foul play?

Most experts have agreed over the years that bad weather probably had nothing to do with the mystery. After all, the Dei Gratia didn’t experience any bad weather during its time in the area. Also, Captain Briggs was an excellent sailor. Why would he have his family and crew take the risk of leaving the ship when it was still in decent condition? He should have been to handle it, and he had probably experienced worse over the years.

Some suggest that perhaps pirates took over the ship, but why was nothing missing? Nine barrels were open, but none were missing. There probably wasn’t a mutiny against the captain, since the crew was mainly honorable soldiers who respected him. So, if no foul play was involved, and there was no sign of bad weather, why did the crew of the Mary Celeste leave the ship, and where did they end up? Were they eaten by sharks? Did a UFO have anything to do with their disappearance?

One theory that has been put forth, which is perhaps the most logical, is that the crew became worried over the raw alcohol, since alcohol fume was known to be volatile and even explosive. Briggs had never hauled alcohol before and didn’t know how to take care of it. Perhaps the nine barrels began leaking or somehow got torn open, filling up the hold with a possibly lethal mixture of fumes. Out of a sudden fear of an explosion, Briggs ordered everyone to hurry into the lifeboat, and in his haste forgot to secure the boat to the ship with the towline. This would explain why the rope was hanging down and drifting into the water, why nine barrels were opened, and why the crew seemed to have left in a hurry.

Of course, it still doesn’t account for the fact that there was water in between the decks, or what happened to the crew. In all probability, they all probably either drowned or died of thirst and exposure. Perhaps we’ll never know for sure what happened to the crew of the Mary Celeste, or why she seemed to bring bad luck with her everywhere she went.

->
Thus this were mY favorite pick from the mystery world , if you have any answers , or any theories , feel free to share ~